Work- support table for button stitching machine



March 17, 1964 M. PEDERSEN WORK SUPPORT TABLE FOR BUTTON STITCHING MACHINE INVENTOR. MATHIAS PEDERSEN Q a 02 2 3 on EMT. 2 8m 1 uv 9 e h 4 S t m 5 E J N L m: i $2 9 0 81%| i in wt E a i 1| NJ Q: -01 $.52 0 1 8 mm. M Q9 llll II E r Q2 3 m w 5 i w 6 p e S d d e l 1 F ONN March 17, 1964 M. PEDERSEN 3,125,046

WORK SUPPORT TABLE FOR BUTTON STITCHING MACHINE Filed Sept. 6, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.2

INVENTOR. MATHIAS PEDERSEN ATTORN EY March 17, 1964 M. PEDERSEN 3,125,046

WORK SUPPORT TABLE FOR BUTTON STITCHING MACHINE Filed Sept. 6, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG.3

IN VEN TOR.

MATHIAS PEDERSEN ZZZ/aw I ATTORNEY March 17, 1964 M. PEDERSEN WORK SUPPORT TABLE FOR BUTTON STITCHING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 6, 1960 Ma J'Ch 17 1964 M. PEDER'SEN WORKvSUPPORT TABLE FOR BUTTON STITCHING MACHINE Filed Sept. 6, 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. MATHIAS PEDERSEN ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,125,046 W0 SUPPQRT TABLE FOR BUTTON STITCH-TING MACHWE Mathias Pedersen, Valley Stream, N.Y., assignor to American Machine & Foundry Company, a corporatron of New Jersey Filed Sept. 6, 1965), Ser. No. 54,215 13 Claims. (Cl. 11211tl) This invention relates to sewing machines, and more particularly to improvements in sewing machines adapted to sew buttons and like fastening devices to materials, such as mens and womens coats and garments.

According to the present invention, buttons are sewed to the desired material with a relatively short thread passing through the eye of a needle which is projected back and forth by opposed needle bars through the material and selected button holes in such a manner that the thread travels in closed continuous paths. In this manner one or more or any desired number of complete loops of thread are made to bind the button to the work. Mechanism is also provided for winding several loops of thread about the post attaching the button to the work, and means are provided for locking the windings against unwinding in,

order to securely attach each button to the work.

The invention constitutes improvements to button sewing machines preferably of the type disclosed in Johnson et al. 2,451,495 and Pattern et al. Patent 2,739,550, and is so constructed and arranged that buttons can be attached to the work in such manner that there is provided a thread shank or post by means of which each button is supported thereby above the work.

In accordance with the invention selective means are provided which make it possible to attach a button to the work so that no thread, or a minimum of thread in the form of a single stitch, appears on the under surface of the work to which it is secured. The invention therefore makes it possible to closely simulate hand stitching.

The desired results of the invention are accomplished by folding the work, such as the edge of a mans coat, over a Work supporting tongue which is moved into a predetermined stitching position relative to the path of travel of a needle which is passed back and forth through selected holes in a button and through the work in order to eliect the attachment of each button to the work in such manner that it appears to be hand sewed. The plane of the button is located initially substantially at right angles of the path of travel of the needle, and the button and folded edge of the work are moved alternately laterally and longitudinally in accordance with a predetermined sewing pattern in order that the thread may secure the button to the work. At the conclusion of these stitching operations the button is turned 90 degrees from its initial position, and by means of a combined lateral shifting of the work and button relative to the needle, the latter is passed back and forth on opposite sides of the loops of threads connecting the button to the work so as to wind a post. After a number of post forming wraps have been made, the thread is anchored against. unwrapping in a manner similar to that disclosed in Patent 2,739,550.

The mechanism comprising the present invention is especially adapted for rapid loading of the work for movement into stitching position. This desired result is obtained by a simplified combination of elements which enable the work to be folded over a supporting tongue and the latter to be moved rapidly to a predetermined stitching position. The arrangement is such that the time required to load for stitching is held to a minimum so that the overall output of buttons sewed per unit time is increased markedly over any machine heretofore known.

It is the object of the invention to provide a novel work supporting mechanism for use with a button stitching machine.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel work supporting and feeding mechanism capable of being rapidly loaded so that increased production can result because of the manner in which the mechanism embodying the invention disposes the work for attachment of a button thereto.

It is an added object of the invention to provide an improved work holding table capable of disposing the work properly with respect to a needle of the type having an eye located between its ends and wherein means are provided to effect the automatic release of the work holding member or tongue at the conclusion of the required cycle for attachment of a button to the work.

The invention further contemplates the provision of improved means for selectively controlling the innermost position of the work supporting tongue of the work sup port in order to insure that no thread or a minimum of thread, for example a single stitch, appears on the undersurface of the work to which a button is secured. This construction makes it possible to meet all conditions required in the attachment of buttons to garments, such as mens coats, where the stitches attaching certain buttons are required to be blind or not visible on the undersurface of the coat, and where in the case of other selected buttons at least one stitch is required to be visible on the under side of the work.

The invention also consists in the provision of a work holding or ironing means which holds the work properly disposed on the tongue during the stitching operations.

The invention further consists in the provision of novel work ironing means which co-acts with the tongue of the work support table to properly dispose the work for attachment of a button thereto and mechanism to effect the movement of the ironing finger into co-action with the tongue preparatory to the attachment of a button to the work.

With these and other objects not specifically mentioned in view, the invention consists in certain combinations and constructions which will be hereinafter fully described, and then specifically set forth in the claims hereunto appended.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, and in which like characters of reference indicate the same or like elements;

FIG. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a work support table embodying the invention with button stitching machine.

FIG. 2 is a plan view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detailed side elevation of the work support table and its actuating mechanism, taken on line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional side elevation of the work support table illustrating its work holding and clamping mechanism.

FIG. 5 is an end elevation of the work support table, taken on line 55 of FIG. 1 and FIG. 6 is a detailed side elevation of the blind stitch control mechanism, taken on line 66 of FIG. 5.

With reference to the drawings which show a preferred embodiment of my invention, the button sewing machine of which it forms a part as mentioned above may be of the same general type as that shown in Johnson et al. Patent 2,451,495, or Patterson et al. Patent 2,739,550. These machines are provided with mechanism for projecting a needle having an eye located between its ends back and forth through a button to be sewed and the work so that the thread which passes through the eye of the needle is disposed in the holes in the button and the work in a manner closely simulating hand stitching.

In the mechanism disclosed in the drawings, there is provided a movable work support member or table 10, having at one end a cross bar 12. Secured to the underside of bar 12 is a pair of spaced inverted cup members 14, each of which engages with and rests upon a ball 16 rotatably supported on the top side of a suitable stationary table support bracket 18 forming a part of the frame structure of the machine. Movable member 10 at its other end carries a vertical stud 29 (FIG. 1), the lower free portion of which preferably is formed integrally with an inverted cup-shaped member 22 which engages with and rests upon a ball 23 rotatably supported in a ball rest member 24 mounted in bracket 18. Vertical stud 211 provides a pivot support for one end of lever 26 pivotally mounted on stud shaft 28 (FIGS. 2 and secured to bracket 18. The other end of lever 26 comprises an actuating arm 39 having a bore 31 through which loosely extends one end of a connecting rod 34. This end of rod 34 carries a disk 35 adapted to seat against a shoulder 37 in bore 31. Encircling rod 34 is a spring 32, one end of which bears against a depression in arm 31). The other end of spring 32 presses against adjusting nut 39 on rod 34. The position of nut 39 can be changed, as desired, to control the pressure of spring 32 on arm 39. The other end of rod 34 is pivotally attached to the free end of cam lever 36 loosely mounted on horizontal stud shaft 38 (FIG. 3) held by a suitable portion of the frame of the machine not shown). lever 36 carries a cam follower 40 which engages with a suitable cam 42 mounted on cam shaft 44 driven by a worm wheel 46 (FIG. 2), through worm 48 which forms part of the worm wheel drive unit 59 secured to the main frame of the machine. Unit 5% is driven by a shaft 52 projecting therefrom which carries a pulley 54 on WhlCl'l runs a belt at driven by pulley 58 mounted on motor shaft 69 of motor 62 (see FIG. 2). Cam shaft 44 is supported by a suitable bearing in worm drive unit 541 and bearing bracket 99 secured to bracket 92 mounted on machine frame housing 83.

Secured to shaft 44 is another cam 64 engaged by cam roller 66 carried by cam lever 68 loosely mounted on stud shaft 38. The free end of cam lever 68 is pivotally attached to one end of connecting rod '79. The other end of rod 70 is pivotally connected to one arm of bell crank lever 72. The other arm of bell crank lever 72 is connected by rod 74 to vertical stud 76 carried by lug 78 (FIGS. 2 and 4) which forms an integral part of movable table member 10. Bell crank lever 72 (FIGS. 2 and 5) is pivotally mounted on vertical stud it which in turn is secured in a suitable boss on stationary frame bracket 18.

The rotation of cam 42 through cam lever 36, rod 34 and arms 39 and 26 effects the desired reciprocating back and forth motion of the movable table member 10. The rotation of cam 64 through cam lever 68, rod 70, Bell crank lever 72 and rod 74 imparts the desired lateral reciprocating motion to said movable table member 10. Depending upon the configuration of cams 42 and 64, the back and forth motion and the lateral motion may be transmitted in sequence or cycles, and also in combination in accordance with the desired stitching, post winding and thread locking pattern of cams 42 and 64.

In order to assure proper action and continuous engagement of cam rollers 41 and 66 with their respective cams 42 and 64, cam levers 35 and 68 are provided with suitable tension springs 82 and 84, respectively (FIGS. 2 and 3), which in turn are anchored to suitable clip 86 secured to a portion of the frame housing 88 of the machine (FIG. 3).

Movable table member carries a Work supporting carriage 94 and a work clamping carriage 91; (FIGS. 1 and 4). Carriage 94 is provided with two pairs of spaced rollers 98 confined in a suitable track 190 formed by the top portion of table member 19 and rails 192 secured to the top of upwardly extending arms 193 formed on table member 10 (FIG. 5). A tension spring 106, having one end attached to a pin on carriage 94 and its other end secured to pin 193 on end plate carried by table member 10, normally tends to maintain carriage 94 in its inoperative position, or in that shown in broken lines in FIGURE 4.

The bottom face of carriage 94 carries an abutment or lock lug 112 which extends into a longitudinal slot 114 provided in table member 19. Lock lug 112 is engaged by a latch lug or dog 116 carried by latch lever 118 pivotally supported on shaft 120 supported in a suitable lug 122 (FIG. 4) integral with and projecting from bottom portion of table member 111. Fixed to shaft 120 is a lever 124 (FIGS. 1 and 2) the free end of which carries an adjustable stud 126 loosely engaging the lower edge of tapered arm 128 of lever 129 loosely mounted on stud shaft 130 carried by table member 19. As shown in FIGURE 2, lever 129 is provided with an arm 132 from its free end of which projects a horizontal pin 134. This pin engages with the slanted end portion of an actuating lever 136 (FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5) mounted on horizontal shaft 138 (FIGS. 2 and 3) rotatably supported in bearing bracket 144) secured to a wing-like flange 142 integral with and extending from the forward portion of table member 19.

Secured to shaft 138 is a suitably shaped ironing finger 144, the purpose of which is described hereinafter. The slanted end portion of lever 136 which operates ironing finger 144 normally is kept in engagement with pin 134 by means of tension spring 146. Referring to FIGURES 1 and 3 it will be seen that the upper edge of arm 128 is provided with an inclined cam edge 148 on which runs cam follower 15f pivotally mounted in a forked lug 152 extending downwardly through slot 154 in table member 10 (FIG. 3), and which is integral with and extends from carriage 94 (FIG. 4). In the form of the invention illustrated the top portion of carriage 94 is slightly upwardly inclined towards the needle. Adjustably mounted on carriage 94 is a work supporting plate or tongue 156 over the free front end of which the work or material W is folded or draped in the same general manner as disclosed in Patterson et al. Patent 2,739,550, referred to above. Work supporting carriage 94 operates in conjunction with the previously mentioned work clamping carriage 96 which is provided with two pairs of spaced rollers 158 confined to travel in the forward portion of tracks 1110, mentioned hereinabove.

Attached to the central rear portion of clamping carriage 96 is one end of a compression spring 160, the other end of the latter being anchored to lug 162 (FIGS. 1 and 4) preferably formed integrally with and projecting from the bottom of the forward portion of the table member 19 adjacent tracks 100. The upper portion of carriage 96 carries a suitably shaped and slightly inclined clamping and tensioning plate 164 which at its forward or face end has an upwardly bent and shaped lip 165 (FIG. 4) to accommodate the forward end of the work supporting plate or tongue 156 on carriage 94. The free ends of plate 156,- and tension and clamping plate 164 are provided with suitable cut-outs to permit needle 166 to operate in accordance with a predetermined stitching pattern and pass through and slightly behind the work or material W folded over the front end of the work support plate 156.

The operation of the mechanism described is as follows:

In order to insert the material to which a button is to be stitched the operator lifts handle 168 of the latch lever 118 which is normally held in latched position by the tension spring 170 (FIG. 4). This movement of latch lever 118 causes a disengagement of latch dog 116 from lock lug 112. Tension spring 1116 acting upon the carriage 94 pulls the latter rearwardly to the position shown in broken lines in FIG. 4. When carriage 94 is in locked position, the action of compression spring 160 causes the rear end of clamping carriage 96 to abut the front end of the work supporting carriage 94. Hence the release and rearward movement of carriage 94 also results in a rearward movement of clamping carriage 96 in response-to the expansion of spring 160 until a portion of carriage 96 contacts the lug 162 and arrests the movement of carriage 96. As carriage 94 moves rearwardly cam follower 150 rolls along cam edge 148 and pivots arm 128 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1. This movement of arm 128 results in an upward swinging of arm 132 which through pin 134 pivots lever 136 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 3. It will be noted that since ironing finger 144 is mounted on the same shaft as lever 136, the pivoting of the latter also pivots ironing finger 144, so that it moves away from tongue 156 and into the position illustrated in dotted lines in FIG. 4. The operator next folds the cloth or material W at the point where a button is to be sewed over the front end of the work supporting plate or tongue 156, and then pushes carriage 94 forwardly, or to the left as viewed in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4. This movement of carriage 94 results in the cloth or material W being clamped between the top surface of tension and clamping plate 164 which is carried by carriage 96 and tongue 156. The operator continues to push carriage 94 forwardly to the position mentioned and this results in a concurrent movement of carriage 96 until the work is located (as shown in FIG.1) in position to attach a button B thereto. The desired forward movement of carriage 94 and carriage 96 is effected by the operator pushing against ears 157 which form an integral part of tongue 156.

In response to the movement of carriages 94 and 96,

as described above, spring 170 causes latch lever 118 to swing in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 4, so that latch dog 116 on lever 118 snaps into engagement with locking lug 112 on carriage 94, and thereby holds carriage 94 firmly in operative position on table member 10. t

It will be noted that the movement of carriage 94 to the position shown in FIG. 1 causes cam roller 150 .mounted thereon to roll along the cam edge 148 of arm 128, which affects the lowering of ironing finger 144 into engagement with the work on tongue 156. This operation insures that material W to which the button is to be attached is laid smoothly over the top edge of plate 156 ready for attachment of a button thereto.

Button B, shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, at the proper time is moved by a holding unit or chuck (not shown) into a predetermined stitching position by mechanism mounted on table member and operated by a gear 174 and gear sector 176 (FIGS. 2 and 3), both rotatably carried on hearing bracket 140. The mechanism for holding a button and locating it in proper stitching position may be similar in construction and operation to that disclosed in copending Johnson et al. patent application S.N. 20,693, filed April 7, 1960, for Button Stitching Machine. Since this mechanism forms no specific part of this application, further illustration and description thereof is deemed to be unnecessary.

When table member 10 is disposed in the position shown in FIG. 1, the machine is set into operation which continues until all stitching, post wrapping and thread locking operations are completed. In the course of attaching a button to the work or material W, and forming the necessary winding or wrapping loops about the thread attaching the button, it is necessary to move table member 10 through a predetermined path of travel so that needle 166 and the thread can be passed back and forth through' selected holes in the button and the work to effect the attachment of the button thereto, and also to provide the necessary movements for insuring that the desired thread general pattern of operations shown and described in the above referred to Patterson et a1. patent.

The desired path of travel of table member 10 relative to needle 166 in the course of attaching a button and the formation of the possible windings comprises a combination of horizontal longitudinal lateral and diagonal movements. These movements result from the operation of earns 42 and 64 and their associated mechanisms, described hereinabove. The back and forth movement of table member 11 is controlled such that it can be set to a desired degree by an adjustable stop screw 182 carried by extension 184 (FIGS. 2, 5 and 6). Regardless of the extent of the forward longitudinal motion imparted to table member 10 by cam 42, this motion is arrested or prevented when stop screw 182 engages the side of a control arm 186 mounted on shaft 188 rotatably supported in bearing lug 191 preferably formed integral with and projecting outwardly from table supporting bracket 18.

Also attached to shaft 138 is the upper end of a vertical arm or rod 192 carrying on its lower or free end a suitably shaped knee paddle or treadle 194. The free end of control arm 186 carries a stop screw 196 extending outwardly therefrom towards the side of extension 184 on arm 26. Stop screw 196 is so positioned on control arm 186 that when this arm is in its raised position, extension 184 cannot engage stop screw 196 and therefore, table member 19 is free to move forwardly in accordance with the setting or adjusted position of stop screw 182, as described above. Control arm 186 normally is maintained in raised position by means of a spring mounted plunger 193 which engages with its lower edge. A horizontal stop pin 2% (FIG. 5) projecting outwardly from bearing lug extends through an oversized hole in arm 186, and limits its vertical movements.

In sewing buttons on a mans coat, it is customary for all stitches to be blind with the exception of one.

machine at the proper time pushes against knee paddle 194 in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 5. This movement results in a downward swing of control arm 186 and moves set screw 196 into the path of oscillating extension 184 on arm 26 so as to effectively prevent arm 26 from moving table member 10 forwardly to its full limit of travel. Thus needle 166 moving through a selected button hole and the work, passes through the center of the folded cloth or material thereby making a blind or invisible sititch.

Needle 166 which is used in effecting the stitching of buttons to Work W is passed back and forth through the holes in a button and the work W by means of opposed alternatively operating needle bars 264 and 296. These needle bars and their associated operating mechanism are constructed and operate in a manner similar to that disclosed in co-pending Johnson et a1 application S.N. 20,142, filed April 7, 1960 for Button Stitching Machine, and since they form no specific part of the present invention, it is considered unnecessary to describe or illustrate them in detail.

Needle bars are provided with actuating members 208 and 210, respectively. Actuating member 206 for the upper needle bar 204 slidably engages with a block 212 pivotally mounted on the free end of an actuating arm 214. Actuating member 210 for the lower needle bar 206 slidably engages with a block 216 pivotally mounted on the free end of an actuating arm 218 which imparts vertical reciprocating motion to the lower needle bar 206. Actuating arm 214 is integral with and projects from a horizontal hub or sleeve 220 provided with a cam lever 222 carrying a cam roller 224 which engages with a track 226 of a cam 228 rotatably mounted on a stud shaft 230 held by the frame housing 88. Actu ating arm 218 is integral with and projects from a rotatably mounted sleeve or hub 232 provided with a cam lever 234 carrying a cam roller 2% engaging with the track 226 of cam 228. The latter is driven by a suitable belt 238 from a pulley 2411 mounted on the continuously rotating shaft 52 of the Worm gear drive unit 50 (FIG. 2

Since the type and thickness of material to which buttons are attached may vary means are provided for adjusting the operative position of tongue 156 in carriage 94. Referring particularly to FIGURES 2, 4 and 5, it will be seen that tongue 156 is mounted for relative sliding movement in carriage 94, and normally is held in its adjusted operative position by means of screws 95 which extend through elongated slots 97 formed in tongue 156 and are secured in threaded bores in carriage 94. Suitably attached to carriage 94 is bracket 9 having an extension 101 which supports a spring 113 engaging with the sides of a nut 105 formed on threaded stud 107, the threaded shank of which extends through a threaded bore in bracket 99, as shown in FIGURE 4. In order to adjust the position of tongue 156 screws 95 are loosened and finger grip 1t forming a part of stud 107 is turned in the appropriate direction to move tongue 156 forwardly or rearwardly, as the case may be, in order to meet the requirements of the particular material to be stitched. Spring 113 maintains resilient engagement with nut 1495 so that stud 167 will not turn without manual movement. Once the proper adjusted position is obtained, screws 95 are tightened to secure tongue 156 firmly in adjusted position on carriage 94.

While reference has been made to the release of carriage 94 by manual engagement of handle 168 on lever 11$, provision also is made for effecting upward move ment of ironing finger 144 and the release of carriage 94 upon completion of the attachment of a button to the work by means of a foot operated treadle 250 pivotally mounted in bracket 252 suitably supported on the frame of the machine.

Attached to treadle 250 as shown in FIG. 3, is one end of a connecting rod 254, the other end of which is pivotally secured to a lever 256 fixed to shaft 258 suitably rotatably mounted in the frame of the machine. Also attached to shaft 258 is a lever 265 the free end of which is connected to a slide bar 262 having a tapered cam nose 264 which is maintained in engagement with a roller 266 mounted on one end of lever 128. A compression spring 268 having one end resting on the floor 270 of the machine and its other end bearing against the under surface of treadle 250 normally maintains slide bar 262 and cam nose 2M in the position shown in FIG. 3. It will be apparent that when treadle 250 is pushed downwardly, so as to swing in a counter clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 3, cam nose 264 will cause follower 265 on lever 128 to be moved upwardly. This movement of follower 266 on one end of lever 128 causes the other end of lever 128 to move downwardly into engagement with stud 126 mounted in lever 12 4 fixed to shaft 12%). Upward movement of slide bar 262 is limited by a suitably located stop 263 which also limits the upward swinging movement of lever 256. Since lever 118 also is fixed to shaft 12th the downward movement of lever 124 causes dog 116 to be moved out of engagement with lock lug 112, thereby freeing carriage 96 for movement to its inoperative position or that shown in FIG. 4 in broken lines.

Thread tensioning or snubbing mechanism 178, similar in construction and operation to that disclosed in co-pending Johnson et al. application 20,693 above referred to, is carried by table 1%. This mechanism is mounted on a bracket 180 on a wing flange 181 preferably integral with and projecting from one side of table 10. (See FIG. 20.)

What I claim is:

1. A work support table for a button sewing machine comprising a moveable table,.-a first carriage m'ovably mounted on said table, a'elarnp' plate mounted at one end of saidfirst carriage, a work supporting tongue, a second carriage mounting said tongue for movement into a position adjacent said clamp plate to hold work to which a button is to be attached in position for attachment of said button thereto, means for locating said carriages in said position, an ironing finger for smoothing said work on said tongue, and means operative in response to the movement of said second carriage to dispose said work in said position for moving said ironing finger into en gagement with said work on said tongue.

2. The mechanism defined in claim 1 wherein said means for moving said ironing finger comprises a cam and a cam follower operatively arranged so that movement of said second carriage relative to said table moves said ironing finger.

3. The invention defined in claim 2 including a needle, means for passing said needle and a thread back and forth through said button and said work to attach said button to said work, means for unlocking said second carriage, and biasing means for moving said second carriage to travel said tongue away from the path of travel of said needle, whereby said work with a button attached thereto can be removed from said second carriage.

4'. Work supporting mechanism for a button stitching machine having a needle, and means for passing said needle and a thread back and forth through the holes in a button and the work to which it is to be attached, comprising a moveable table, a first carriage mounted on one end of said't able for linear movement relative thereto, a work supporting and clamping plate carried by said first carriage, a second carriage mounted on said table for linear movement relative thereto in tandem with said first carriage, a work supporting tongue mounted on said second carriage, track means guiding said carriages for conjoint movement to and from the path of travel of said needle, means operative in response to the movement of said second carriage towards said first carriage in positioning said tongue with the work to which a button is to be attached in the path of travel of said needle for moving said first carriage forwardly and effecting a clamping co-action between said tongue and said supporting and clamping plate whereby said work is properly disposed in the path of travel of said needle, and means for locking said carriages in said operative position.

5. The invention defined in claim 4 including selectively operative means for controlling the position of said work supporting tongue relative to said needle for making blind or tack stitches, means mounting said table for movement in a plurality of paths of travel in a horizontal plane to dispose said work to which a button is to be attached in a predetermined patterned path, and means for moving said table through said plurality of paths in attaching a button to said work.

6. The invention defined in claim 5 wherein said selectively operative controlling means comprises a lever mounted on the frame of said machine, means normally maintaining said lever in inoperative position, and means carried by said lever and operative in response to its movement into an inoperative position for preventing the movement of said table into its forward-most position relative to said needle whereby said needle is caused to pass only within the work and thereby form a blind stitch.

7. A work support mechanism for a button stitching machine having a needle, a stitching position, and means for passing said needle back and forth through said button and said work at said stitching position comprising in combination, a movable table, a first carriag means mounting said first carriage for movement on said table, a work clamping plate carried by said first carriage, a work supporting plate, a second carriage, means mounting said'work supporting plate on said second carriage for movement into said stitching position adjacent said work clamping plate to hold work to which a button is to be attached in position for attachment of said button thereto, means mounting said second carriage on said table for movement thereon relative to said first carriage, means operative in response to the movement of said second carriage to engage said first carriage and effect the conjoint movement of both carriages to dispose said work supporting plate and said clamping plate in said position, and means for locking said carriages in said position.

8. The work support table defined in claim 7 including means mounting said table for movement in a plurality of paths of travel relative to a needle, and means for moving said table through said plurality of paths in attaching a button to said work.

9. The invention defined in claim 7 wherein said locking means includes a lock element carried by said second carriage, a locking lever, a dog on said lever adapted to engage said locking element, and means for maintaining said element and said dog in engagement 10. The invention defined in claim 7 including means for adjusting the operative position of said ongue on said second carriage, said means including a threaded screw connected to said tongue, a slideable support on said second carriage for said tongue, and means for maintaining said threaded screw in adjusted position.

11. The invention defined in claim 9 including means for unlocking said locking means and means for effecting the movement of said carriages to travel said work clamping plate and supporting plate away from said needle.

12. The invention defined in claim 9, wherein said locking means includes a shaft supporting said lock lever,

a second lever mounted on said shaft, a. stud carried on the free end of said second lever, a third lever having one arm engaged by said stud, and a cam follower on its other arm, a movable unlocking member engaging said cam follower, and means operative in response to the movement of said third lever and said member relative to said cam follower to cause said second lever to rock said shaft and effect the disengagement of said dog from said lock element.

13. The invention defined in claim 4 including an ironing finger for smoothing said work on said work supporting tongue, means for operating said ironing finger in response to the movement of said second carriage into its operative position wherein said work is properly disposed in the path of travel of said needle, means for unlocking said carriages and effecting the movement of said ironing finger out of engagement with said work, and means for effecting rearward movement of said carriages and displacing said second carriage away from said first carriage whereby said Work with a button attached thereto can be removed from said work supporting tongue.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,810,995 Woelk June 23, 1931 2,555,525 Zalleel June 5, 1951 2,604,863 Pedersen July 29, 1952 2,739,550 Patterson et al. Mar. 27, 1956 2,811,939 Mirel Nov. 5, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 615,312 Germany July 2, 1935 

1. A WORK SUPPORT TABLE FOR A BUTTON SEWING MACHINE COMPRISING A MOVEABLE TABLE, A FIRST CARRIAGE MOVABLY MOUNTED ON SAID TABLE, A CLAMP PLATE MOUNTED AT ONE END OF SAID FIRST CARRIAGE, A WORK SUPPORTING TONGUE, A SECOND CARRIAGE MOUNTING SAID TONGUE FOR MOVEMENT INTO A POSITION ADJACENT SAID CLAMP PLATE TO HOLD WORK TO WHICH A BUTTON IS TO BE ATTACHED IN POSITION FOR ATTACHMENT OF SAID BUTTON THERETO, MEANS FOR LOCATING SAID CARRIAGES IN SAID POSITION, AN IRONING FINGER FOR SMOOTHING SAID WORK ON SAID TONGUE, AND MEANS OPERATIVE IN RESPONSE TO THE MOVEMENT OF SAID SECOND CARRIAGE TO DISPOSE SAID WORK IN SAID POSITION FOR MOVING SAID IRONING FINGER INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID WORK ON SAID TONGUE. 